HONG KONG 26th/27th February
What a tremendous two days we have had in Hong Kong, from the time we arrived, watching Hong Kong emerge out of the fog as the ship made its way into port to the time we left at midnight with the lights of Hong Kong passing our cabin window.
The ship entered the port at about 1.00pm on the 26th after a very choppy night on the South China Sea. As we sailed into Hong Kong, with Hong Kong Island on the port side (left) and Kowloon on the starboard side (right), the view was non-existent, but as we went further and further in the first of the high rise accommodation on the outskirts of the city emerged out of the mist. These buildings were 50-60 floors in height and too numerous to count. As we progressed the accommodation blocks were dwarfed by the tower blocks in the financial centre of the city and the views coming out of the fog were amazing. When we arrived in the centre of Victoria Harbour the ship did a 180 degree turn (amongst hundreds of small boats, ferries, tugs) to berth at Ocean Terminal on the Kowloon side, directly opposite the financial centre on Hong Kong Island. As luck would have it our cabin, which is on the starboard side, had views directly across Victoria Harbour (absolutely magnificent).
Immediately after berthing we left the ship, down the gangway straight into a very large shopping mall, one of the biggest in Hong Kong (Doreen was in heaven). We then walked to the end of Nathan Road, which is the longest road in Kowloon and has shops from one end to the other. We spent the next three hours exploring the shops, during this time we were constantly accosted by salesmen offering to make you a suit and encouraging you to step inside their shops. As we were only exploring the city we resisted their persistent sales approach and returned to the ship empty handed.
The highlight of our day was meeting Valetia (Nicola’s best friend and bridesmaid), who we had arranged to meet in Central MTR Station, Hong Kong Island. This proved to be a challenge as we chose to take the ferry across Victoria Harbour and walk through the rush hour of Hong Kong. However, we did meet Valetia and she took us to a famous Hong Kong restaurant, called Yung Kee Restaurant and had a lovely meal consisting of soup, preserved eggs and sliced ginger (one hundred day old duck eggs which were black). This was followed by a platter of goose, pork and chicken, prawns with mixed local vegetables all washed down with copious amounts of jasmine tea. Finally we had custard tarts and herb jelly. All in all the company and the meal was excellent.
Doreen had previously asked Valetia to take her to a night market, so after leaving the restaurant we went to the underground station and caught a train to Mong Kok to the ladies market. En route Geoffrey had his first lesson in reading Chinese and can now recognise the word “Please”. We came out of the station, turned a corner and could not believe our eyes. As far as you could see down the street was market stalls as high as 15 feet draped in every type of clothing, bags, nick nacks that you can imagine. Under the watchful eye of Valetia Doreen dived in looking and buying (with Valetia bargaining) several items. After one and a half hours of intense retail therapy much enjoyed by all, we decided to call it a day and jumped in to a taxi with Valetia back to our ship. Thanks to Valetia we saw some of the local sights of Hong Kong and were sorry to say goodbye to her.
Next morning we were up at 6.00am to be ready at 7.50am for boarding our coach for a 9 hour excursion around town, including a trip to The Peak, with stunning views over Hong Kong, across Hong Kong Island to Stanley Village and Market, where Doreen used her new found negotiation skills to buy more bargains. Whilst touring around the island Geoffrey was absolutely amazed at the number of building sites, where the scaffolding was totally constructed of bamboo, even of buildings 45 stories high. Back in the coach to Aberdeen via a Jade factory (more retail therapy), down to the harbour, where we boarded a Sampan for a 30 minute trip around Aberdeen harbour, Jumbos, the Chinese floating restaurants and many boats where the boat people live and trade. We then walked along the foreshore to the Yacht Club, a very high class club, where we were served a traditional Dim Sum luncheon. After an interesting !! lunch we returned across the island for a cruise up and down Victoria Harbour in a traditional Chinese Junk. Exhausted, we returned to the ship, just in time for our evening meal, followed by the Aurora Theatre Company’s performance of Carnaby Street, a 1960s theme.
At 11.00pm the ship cast off and we watched from our balcony as the harbour went by, illuminated in its full glory (with laser display). On reflection Hong Kong has come a very close second to Sydney on cities that must be experienced. Although the pace of life and the number of people would be too much for us!!
THIS IS JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN AND ARE HAVING TROUBLE DOWNLOADING PHOTOGRAPHS. WILL SEND MORE LATER
What a tremendous two days we have had in Hong Kong, from the time we arrived, watching Hong Kong emerge out of the fog as the ship made its way into port to the time we left at midnight with the lights of Hong Kong passing our cabin window.
The ship entered the port at about 1.00pm on the 26th after a very choppy night on the South China Sea. As we sailed into Hong Kong, with Hong Kong Island on the port side (left) and Kowloon on the starboard side (right), the view was non-existent, but as we went further and further in the first of the high rise accommodation on the outskirts of the city emerged out of the mist. These buildings were 50-60 floors in height and too numerous to count. As we progressed the accommodation blocks were dwarfed by the tower blocks in the financial centre of the city and the views coming out of the fog were amazing. When we arrived in the centre of Victoria Harbour the ship did a 180 degree turn (amongst hundreds of small boats, ferries, tugs) to berth at Ocean Terminal on the Kowloon side, directly opposite the financial centre on Hong Kong Island. As luck would have it our cabin, which is on the starboard side, had views directly across Victoria Harbour (absolutely magnificent).
Immediately after berthing we left the ship, down the gangway straight into a very large shopping mall, one of the biggest in Hong Kong (Doreen was in heaven). We then walked to the end of Nathan Road, which is the longest road in Kowloon and has shops from one end to the other. We spent the next three hours exploring the shops, during this time we were constantly accosted by salesmen offering to make you a suit and encouraging you to step inside their shops. As we were only exploring the city we resisted their persistent sales approach and returned to the ship empty handed.
The highlight of our day was meeting Valetia (Nicola’s best friend and bridesmaid), who we had arranged to meet in Central MTR Station, Hong Kong Island. This proved to be a challenge as we chose to take the ferry across Victoria Harbour and walk through the rush hour of Hong Kong. However, we did meet Valetia and she took us to a famous Hong Kong restaurant, called Yung Kee Restaurant and had a lovely meal consisting of soup, preserved eggs and sliced ginger (one hundred day old duck eggs which were black). This was followed by a platter of goose, pork and chicken, prawns with mixed local vegetables all washed down with copious amounts of jasmine tea. Finally we had custard tarts and herb jelly. All in all the company and the meal was excellent.
Doreen had previously asked Valetia to take her to a night market, so after leaving the restaurant we went to the underground station and caught a train to Mong Kok to the ladies market. En route Geoffrey had his first lesson in reading Chinese and can now recognise the word “Please”. We came out of the station, turned a corner and could not believe our eyes. As far as you could see down the street was market stalls as high as 15 feet draped in every type of clothing, bags, nick nacks that you can imagine. Under the watchful eye of Valetia Doreen dived in looking and buying (with Valetia bargaining) several items. After one and a half hours of intense retail therapy much enjoyed by all, we decided to call it a day and jumped in to a taxi with Valetia back to our ship. Thanks to Valetia we saw some of the local sights of Hong Kong and were sorry to say goodbye to her.
Next morning we were up at 6.00am to be ready at 7.50am for boarding our coach for a 9 hour excursion around town, including a trip to The Peak, with stunning views over Hong Kong, across Hong Kong Island to Stanley Village and Market, where Doreen used her new found negotiation skills to buy more bargains. Whilst touring around the island Geoffrey was absolutely amazed at the number of building sites, where the scaffolding was totally constructed of bamboo, even of buildings 45 stories high. Back in the coach to Aberdeen via a Jade factory (more retail therapy), down to the harbour, where we boarded a Sampan for a 30 minute trip around Aberdeen harbour, Jumbos, the Chinese floating restaurants and many boats where the boat people live and trade. We then walked along the foreshore to the Yacht Club, a very high class club, where we were served a traditional Dim Sum luncheon. After an interesting !! lunch we returned across the island for a cruise up and down Victoria Harbour in a traditional Chinese Junk. Exhausted, we returned to the ship, just in time for our evening meal, followed by the Aurora Theatre Company’s performance of Carnaby Street, a 1960s theme.
At 11.00pm the ship cast off and we watched from our balcony as the harbour went by, illuminated in its full glory (with laser display). On reflection Hong Kong has come a very close second to Sydney on cities that must be experienced. Although the pace of life and the number of people would be too much for us!!
THIS IS JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT WE ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN AND ARE HAVING TROUBLE DOWNLOADING PHOTOGRAPHS. WILL SEND MORE LATER
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